Valerie Jarrett on employer mandate delay: We’re just listening to business

Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, defended the administration’s move to delay the health law’s employer mandate as proof the White House has heard the concerns of the business community.

“As we implement this law, we have and will continue to make changes as needed. In our ongoing discussions with businesses we have heard that you need the time to get this right,” she said in a post on the White House blog. “We are listening.”

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According to Jarrett, the law’s original reporting standards may have been unnecessary for businesses “that more than meet the minimum standards in the law.” She also compared the delay to a move to consolidate the law’s insurance application from 21 pages to three: “[W]e are working hard to adapt and to be flexible in employer and insurer reporting as we implement the law.”